ABSTRACTS

11:30am | William Bolles-Beaven – Technique Spectra

By placing a compositional or performance technique in opposition to another that is related, a spectrum is created that the composer can explore. A simple example would be bow pressure; flautando and overpressure would be the poles of the spectrum, while standard bow pressure would be in the middle.

In this presentation, I will discuss the role that such spectra play in my compositional work, especially relating to compositional control and player coordination. I believe this approach is valuable not only because it creates more interesting pieces, but because it facilitates the creative process.

11:50am | Spencer Arias – Working with Scientists for a More Sustainable Future

Working as a composer can be incredibly fulfilling, but finding ways to sustain our careers financially can be frustrating, and in some cases feel nearly impossible. Many of us have other types of jobs, either teaching or something entirely outside of music. Meanwhile, in the sciences, almost ten billion dollars are awarded annually just by the National Science Foundation to complete their research. In this presentation, I will discuss a new model for working with scientists to participate in some of that science money economy with emphasis on how we made our specific project beneficial for composer, performer, scientist and audience. The project we completed involved four plant biologists with an emphasis on sustainability and four composers with a budget of nearly $40,000, which included four commissions of $4,500 each, with each composer being given an additional $1,000 to hire performers and further provided travel and lodging expenses. This budget also included recorded and streaming media services provided by the local PBS affiliate station, and is currently being streamed on the PBS website. All of this allowed us to offer a free event to the public and build a new audience who do not normally engage with contemporary music.

12:10pm | Sami Seif

In this presentation, titled From Court to Concert Hall: Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions, Sami Seif explores the evolution of musical composition in response to contemporary auditory expectations and cognitive science insights. Drawing upon an anecdote about the mundane reception of Mozart’s music in the modern era, Seif reflects on how 18th-century Viennese court music, designed for a different audience and era, may fail to captivate today's listeners whose cognitive engagement with music has transformed.

Seif introduces concepts from human attention studies and short-term memory to argue for a compositional approach that better aligns with modern cognitive capacities. He emphasizes the importance of understanding memory limits and attention spans to enhance musical retention and emotional impact. Using examples from classical to contemporary music, Seif demonstrates a common compositional gesture and discusses its effectiveness in evoking closure or continuity.

The presentation challenges traditional views by critiquing visual analogies in music education, proposing that such methods, while useful, often oversimplify the complexities of musical perception. Seif calls for a modern compositional ethos that considers the nuanced modes of contemporary listeners.

1:30pm | Erich Barganier

Creating spectacle and atmosphere lies at the heart of musical composition, but some performances fail to realize their intended mood due to the space in which they are presented. By incorporating visuals into a concert, the composer can find new avenues to harness the attention of audiences. Electroacoustic performances, particularly fixed audio works, can suffer from poor environmental design and may cause the loss of focus among listeners. One way to mitigate this loss is through the use of accompanying live visuals that can be realized as part of the performance.

Through this workshop, I intend to explore the browser-based visual coding language Hydra as a method of invigorating electroacoustic performances. The language uses a simplified version of Javascript to create a variety of fixed and interactive geometric visuals, as well as live video manipulation and webcam manipulation. This easy-to-use language has a gentler learning curve when compared to software like Jitter and has a performative element due to the fact that it promotes live coding in the performance space. Attendees should bring their own computer so that they may follow along as I demonstrate how to create audio-reactive visuals for electronic compositions. No previous coding experience is required.

2:30pm | Justin Weiss – Translation and Abstraction of Visual Art into Sound: An Exploration of Recent Compositions by Justin Weiss

In this presentation I will discuss the relationship between the visual arts and music in my recent work. Throughout my pieces across the past few years, I have explored the “translation” of materials in visual artwork into musical materials and the “abstraction” of the experiential qualities of the artwork into a sonic domain. I will demonstrate ways in which I adapted elements of the painting, Reflected Moon, by the abstract expressionist painter, Norman Lewis, in a recent piece for viola and piano. In my piece, I “translated” the materials of straight lines, pointed—yet blurred—edges, and hazy shadows into musical techniques to create similar effects of ungraspable transparency. Further I tried to emulate clarity of the orb-like shape in the center of the painting by having a similar formal centricity. In another recent piece for sinfonietta, I will demonstrate how I similarly attempted to emulate the modes of layering, sporadic drips, and gradual unveiling in Jackson Pollock’s very atypical piece, The Deep, while also attempting to abstract the searching, hopeful, yet despairing tone of the painting into a musical experience. Through these compositions, I ultimately try to achieve a perception of qualities in the visual artwork while avoiding literal representation.

3:10pm | Blake Opper

More often than not as composers we write for the stage, the concert hall, or with no particular venue in mind at all. Rarely do we allow the performance space to affect our decisions as composers; but what if the shape, size, and structure of a piece were all defined by the performance space itself? What new avenues would be opened compositionally and what unexpected spaces could we utilize for performance? In this talk composer Blake Opper will walk through the writing process behind his piece “Absolute Gravel” and present a guide to developing site-specific compositions that are not only made for specific locations, but embody those locations from score to stage.

3:30pm | Joseph Vasinda

Composition teachers must constantly balance their influence over students with the personal voices of those students. The key issue with influence is that while inexperienced students need significant guidance, if a teacher always provides his own ideas, he risks his students simply copying his style. Whereas if, when working with a graduate student, he attempts to entirely remove his influence from composition lessons, the student may gain nothing from him. Therefore, teachers need a variety of methods which differ in ratio of teacher versus student input.

Using findings from a recent ethnographic study, I will share teaching methods used by five composition teachers across the U.S. My analysis of interviews and observations revealed several methods which these teachers used to develop their students’ practices falling along a spectrum between teacher- and student-driven. By examining these teachers’ studios and methods, readers can adapt the methods focused on student choices to more carefully balance their influence over student practices. As one of my research associates commented, “I don't think we're teaching to put knowledge in people's brains. I think we're teaching to put practices in people's brains, practices with which they can retain knowledge if they keep the practice.”

3:50pm | Alissa Voth

If you asked an “nonmusician” to compose, they would likely respond with confusion and reluctance. But what if you asked them to play a game?

Ludens is a series of compositional games that invite participants to experience music-making through playful challenges. Created by myself (a composer) and a programmer, Ludens is the convergence of music cognition research, deep listening practices, DIY social media, and, above all, accessible composition learning. The games were piloted in February 2022; a summary of the experience was published in Special Interest Group in Computers and Society.

Ludens is played on modified instruments and contains rules built upon music cognition research. Participants create melodic fragments and soundscapes that achieve tonal and timbral closure. They upload the audio into an online interface and repository, using their phones and QR codes, for a final composition game. In my presentation, I will provide in-person demonstrations of the modified instruments, the online interface, and the final game. I will summarize my musical-educational goal to develop an alternative mode of composition learning. Additionally, I will provide a case for collaborating with both near and distant academic practices to increase the inclusivity and efficacy of composition pedagogy.

4:10pm | Brooklyn Motion Capture Dance Ensemble

We are the Brooklyn Motion Capture Dance Ensemble, an ensemble focused around building collaborative, interdisciplinary, and immersive performance experiences that lie at the intersection of New Music and Contemporary Dance. This workshop will be an exploration of our group's artistic practice, and will share best practices we've learned regarding collaborations among composers, choreographers, and creative coders. In our time together, we will discuss theoretical groundings, play with some AI-powered instruments, and perform a piece together as a group.